Sneaking Out
by Danally
Summary: A bright shiny day; not a cloud in the sky, not too cold and not too windy. It was perfect for a surprise outing to the hot springs.


A/N: The background of this drabble is a story I wrote in which Sansa is Lady of Winterfell and Wardeness of the North, and she is pressured to marry. Sansa hates the idea but at the same time she knows it is her duty. After a couple of conversations between Sansa and Podrick she decides to ask him if he would marry her...because well, he is a good man and that's all she cares for. They get engaged but at the same time they bicker a lot, he likes her but she kind of pushes him away. They begin to talk and she begins to like him even before the wedding, and things get sweet and sad in their honeymoon, but at the end of it she opens to him and knows she chose well. And little by little they begin to know each other and consecuently fall in love.

This drabble takes place three or four years after their wedding.

And of course, thanks to my friend Fangfaceandrea for helping me with the translation.

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**SNEAKING OUT.**

It wasn't like her to be inappropriate, but suddenly an opportunity presented itself, and she was curious enough to seize it.

Winter Town and the entire North were celebrating the harvest. And just at the last moment Sansa decided to send her double in her place. Of course Brienne didn't like her decision and was currently questioning her about it. Sansa dismissed her by telling her that she wanted the day to rest and to enjoy,_ for once,_ a little bit of peace of mind. Brienne insisted on leaving more soldiers to look after her, and Sansa reminded her that as soon as Podrick realized that it was_n't _her by his side he would come to find her, so she would not be left unattended. Seeing that Brienne wasn't happy, Sansa stated that her decision was final, _"Don't worry, Podrick will be enough". _Perhaps it was her blush that gave her away, or her mumbling of the words, but Brienne understood immediately what she really wanted and she regarded her with curiosity for a moment before saying her goodbyes with a nod.

Sansa had already taken it upon herself to grab some things she thought could be useful, and she was putting on a cloak to cover her red hair when the door opened again. Podrick, dressed for the harvest celebration, came in asking her if she was feeling well, _because it was unthinkable for him to believe she would want to miss the celebration. _Sansa told him she wasn't sick, and that she simply didn't want to spend a couple of uncomfortable hours watching half the population drink themselves blind. _It was a beautiful day, and she suddenly _wanted to go out and ride her horse, and enjoy some peace and privacy.

Podrick knew very well how stubborn she could be when she wanted to, "_You are not going alone." _

"Of course not. _That's why I have a husband now," _she added the last part with some feigned reproach, and saw him scowling at her. After a second, she smiled, letting him know she wasn't being serious, "Wear something more comfortable. I'll be waiting in the stables."

For Podrick, the second surprise of the day came when he realized that she actually _did _want privacy, and that it would be only the two of them. For her safety, he tried to change her mind, but he was unsuccessful. It wasn't normal for Sansa to be outside Winterfell without security but his doubts were assuaged by the knowledge that most of the inhabitants of the castle, Winter Town, and the surrounding areas would be celebrating and drunk before mid-day.

They rode in comfortable silence; from time to time Podrick would see her out of the corner of his eyes throwing curious glances in his direction, which made him wonder what she was up to, so he asked.

"It is not every day that we get to enjoy a morning like this." It was a bright shiny day; not a cloud in the sky, not too cold and not too windy. It was perfect for what she had in mind.

"That's true." he smiled back at her. If someone had told him four years ago that he would end up married to the Lady of Winterfell, _Sansa Stark, _in a marriage that was not for convenience but for her peace of mind, he _would not have believed it. Even _less if they had said that within a year, it would become a marriage of love.

"I also wanted us to be alone." She added and saw him nodding and smiling again but the meaning of her true words was lost to him. _And how couldn't they be? _She never acted in the way that she was soon about to.

It was her who led the way, feeling secure at not coming across anyone on their path. She hadn't visited those hot springs since she was a child but she remembered the way, and after an hour and a half at a slow pace, she heard Podrick saying that it was't a good idea to go on. _She didn't listen to him._ Not even when they got into a thick forest and she saw him losing his patience _because she didn't take into account his opinions about her security._ That was until they reached the hot springs she had wanted to visit.

She fixed him with a look and he looked back at her with curiosity and disbelief, then realization came and he smirked at her, knowing why she brought him to this place. She blushed and removed her cloak, "Mother brought me to this place a couple of times when I was a child." _And Arya had been too little to come with them. _They came with two Septas, and several soldiers who stayed behind reinforcing a perimeter. For hours, the two of them had been alone in the hot springs, enjoying themselves, telling stories and playing.

_And now she brought Podrick with different intentions, _she thought somewhat wickedly and embarrassed as she got off her horse. When he approached her to take the reins, she smiled awkwardly and returned his short kiss.

_'One day I would like to make love with you in a hot spring.'_

Those were the words he had said to her when she had begun to appreciate the joys of intimacy with him,_ several years ago._

"Happy?" she asked him when they parted.

Podrick chuckled, _"Can't you tell?" he _asked hugging her, amazed that she _wanted this, _that she was willing to do it. Because, even after being together for three years, there were still intimacy issues that she hadn't overcome.

_"…Well, I can tell something."_ She said after embracing him for a few seconds telling him that way that she noticed the bulge against her, they both chuckled as she pushed him away a couple of seconds later. While he tied the horses to a tree, she busied herself looking for a place that wasn't too muddy but close enough to the hot springs to spread the blankets and skins they brought. Podrick joined her after a few moments and helped her while praising the beauty of the place while serving the wine, cheese and bread Neither paying as much attention to the food as to they whispered words against each other's lips.

_"This was a good surprise." _Podrick said, touching her cheek softly.

_"Mmm, don't get used to it."_

Podrick waited for a moment before asking her, "_Are you sure about this?"_

By now Sansa knew how important it was to be completely truthful in these circumstances; she continued caressing the back of his neck with her nails, "Not entirely but I still have time to get used to the idea." It wasn't new for her that between kisses and prolonged touches he would convince her of trying certain things she was nervous about. _She hoped this was one of those occasions._

Not waiting for a reply, she touched his chest, her hand sliding towards the buttons on his doublet. Between kisses and caresses they unbuttoned, untied and got rid of both their clothes, _for the moment_ Sansa remained in her robe because it provided her more comfort. Trembling from the cold, they hurried to the hot springs, him taking her by the hand when the ground turned muddier. Seconds later, they were submerged in the warm and clear waters.

Podrick moved behind her, holding her and kissing her neck making her sigh quietly, after a few seconds Sansa noticed he stopped shivering, "Have you done this before?" she asked, because deep down she still had certain insecurities about his renowned reputation. _Something she hadn't considered too much until she began to care for him._

"No." He answered, taking her earlobe between his lips and sucking it lightly, then his lips traveled to that spot on her neck that made her shudder and groan every time he softly nibbled on it, "I would have died of shame if Ser Brienne, _or you my lady, _somehow had found out I was like_ this_ with some girl." Sansa turned in his arms slowly and they stared at each other.

"I'm not a girl anymore, but she can still find out you were _doing this._"

Podrick chuckled at that, "And you are not_ just_ _some girl-_"

"No, I'm not."

"And _if_ she finds out about this, she will be really angry with both of us. We are not being exactly careful with your security."

"Would you rather we had stayed at Winterfell?"

"What do you think?" he asked before kissing her slowly again, and then "…I think this is more of a Southerner's fantasy." _Now,_ he understood that the cold that would hit them once they got out of the water _was the reason why the northern girls had refused when he proposed this. _And he also knew it was best not to share these thoughts and to better pay attention to the slow kisses and enticing caresses on his back that she was giving him. Podrick breathed deeply when she slipped her tongue into his mouth.

Moments later and feeling pressure on her abdomen, Sansa grabbed the hem of her robe and began to pull it up, "Help me," she asked against his lips and immediately felt his hands on the back of her knees sliding up her thighs slowly, pulling up the skirt to her hips as she grabbed his shoulders and jumped up, hooking her legs around his waist. She was looking for friction and not uncomfortable underwater penetration.

The next few minutes were spent like this, just calm, peace and each other; Stopping their kisses to breath, stare at each other, and share meaningless words. Thanks to the water she felt almost weightless but Podrick wanted more so he led them close to the shore where he sat, the water still covering him up to his collarbones, she on top of him while he worshipped her breasts over the robe.

He was about to tell her that thanks to the wet cream-colored robe he could see her as if she was wearing nothing, but decided to act and moments later she let him remove it. He didn't ask for her permission to continue because, if she had any misgiving she would have told him. She was shivering more from the cold than from passion, and he just kept on staring, for it was the first time he was seeing her under the radiant sunlight. Her skin looked paler than it did under the yellow and red tones of the torches and candlelight, her skin felt as soft as ever and so appealing with the small drops of water that he suddenly wanted to suck. Some scars became more noticeable and without thinking he bent down to kiss a couple of them as he licked the droplets. He also kissed the side of one heavy breast. For a few moments he played with her nipples, one in his hand and another in his mouth. She didn't answer him when he asked if they were hard because of him or the cold. She only buried her nails in his scalp, and rubbed herself firmly against him, making him gasp. Podrick also stared at the vibrant red hair between her legs and couldn't contain a lustful smirk.

After having enough of her breasts, he went back to kiss her, but stopped as his attention was caught by her flushed cheeks and the desire on her eyes, which had him grabbing at her head with his hands trying, _without success, _to undo her hair because he wanted to see her pretty face framed by it, but she stopped him.

"I don't want it to get wet…it's not a good idea in the cold." She saw Podrick nodding, then touching her knees and sliding his hands up her thighs under the water.

_He squeezed her thighs with desire, "You're so beautiful." _She ignored his words because, after saying them, he looked at her body and then stared between her legs. She bent down to his neck and started kissing it avidly, one hand sliding between them and taking him in her hand, while she also kissed his Addam's apple, collarbones and shoulders.

"It's too cold," Sansa decided, stopping her caresses and standing up, taking Podrick by the arm and covering her front with the robe as they returned to where the blankets and skins were. Trembling and with goose bumps she dried herself quickly as he spread her robe on a tree and set aside the food and wine. Once dry, she lay on the blankets and wrapping herself in the thickest skin, and studied him drying himself and shaking, shaking as much as she had been. She could not help but mock him as he came to rest by her side, tucking one arm under her neck. Podrick even put the blanket over their heads, covering them even from the light. Both were trembling uncontrollably.

_"Aghhh, it's so cold," _Podrick complained while shivering; _now he knew with certainty why every girl had refused him._ And suddenly he remembered whispers about hot springs inside caves, which_ made more sense_. Lying on their sides she hooked an arm and a leg over him and when she felt it, _or rather didn't feel it, she _raised her eyebrows in mockery. "_This is a dream come true, but... it's too fucking cold. Even your beauty can't help me right now." _He said, his teeth shaking. He saw her placid smile and he returned it. Next, both of them put their hands to work, caressing the other, more to create heat than for fun.

_It was good to be together this way, _she thought minutes later, enjoying the slow caresses and kisses, but Sansa –once she was warm again– began to feel how uncomfortable the floor was underneath her. And as much as she tried to move, she kept noticing small stones burying themselves in her side and leg. She easily solved that by turning them over and laying on top of him, Podrick immediately complained from the pain, _"This was your idea."_

_"I know." _He answered moving a bit, trying and failing to get a pebble or a stick or something out of his back, "...Not a really good one, _really._ It never crossed my mind this would be uncomfortable." But at least the heat had returned to their bodies. They both looked at each other and Sansa exhaled after a few moments, simply moving down a bit and resting her head on his shoulder.

They rested the best they could. _Or she rested, _because he was still in pain from all the pebbles but he decided not to complain more because all this had been his idea, and he was lucky enough that she was going along with it. Feeling her falling asleep, he gently began to caress her back and sides softly and slowly, feeling her waking up and shiver against him, wiggling, pressing her breasts more tightly against his torso, and then gasping softly when he also began to firmly massage her nape and neck.

_And it was only with her that it took him almost a year to realize she was much more sensitive in her back and neck than in her breasts. _

And it took her almost a year to _really_ enjoy intimacy, it wasn't something that happened overnight, even when she had learned to love and trust him. She _still didn't enjoy it completely most of the time, _but she reassured him that she enjoyed it, that it made her feel pleasure even if she didn't finish, and, knowing that she enjoyed long caresses and kisses more than penetration itself, Podrick made sure to give her pleasure that way before slipping inside her.

Only after feeling her melting in his arms he turned her over her back and proceeded to slowly descend on her body, kissing everything in his path until he was between her legs, finding she wasn't wet enough so he proceeded to kiss her repeating over and over the kisses, nibbles and licks that pleased her.

The sexual act in itself had been an imposition at first –on her part– to prolong the Stark name, so for neither of them sex had been the most intimate act at the beginning. Once she began to have more trust in him, more confidence in the feelings they shared and what they did, this act became the most intimate for them.

At first, she was taken aback and embarrassed by his proposition, then skeptical and embarrassed, _and then_ when she allowed him, she was pleased _and embarrassed,_ so embarrassed that it took quite some time, and tries, to make her finish.

And later on, he would stop in the middle of the act to tease her, telling her that this was how he had finally won her heart. He bit her thigh and was about to repeat those words but when he looked up he saw her with the blanket up to her neck and he imagined her head thrown back, her face flushed and lost in pleasure _while his uncovered legs were fucking freezing_.

After making sure she was satisfied he climbed up her body, she looked at him placidly with half-open eyes, her face extremely flushed, her neck too, Podrick lowered the blanket to see her blush fading away slowly as it reached her breasts, and he couldn't help to bend over and suck one of her nipples, she gasped softly in exhaustion, wrapping one hand around his hair, caressing it gently.

Feeling his body quickly freezing, Podrick covered them again, and arranged them in order to carefully slide into her. It wasn't long before she began to complain of pain in her back so he didn't even have time to ease her into a more intense penetration. They changed positions, he switched the pain in his knees and arms for the pain in his back, and frankly, it didn't work either. They tried sitting down and arranging the blanket under them to cushion their movements, which worked as she moved over him, covering them from the cold with the thick skin blanket.

They made love slowly, noticing how much they began to sweat while outside it was cold, sometimes a gush of cold air would get in through one of the openings and others because she opened the blanket for a few seconds to let some air in.

"This was not a good idea." Sansa told him stopping tiredly, sweat running down her back.

Podrick smirked, _"I know."_ He answered her and after a few moments he felt her moving again and he grabbed her tightly by the waist, "Stay still" he asked, caressing her between her legs again, stroking the little nerve and feeling the contractions of her internal muscles closing pleasantly over him.

And that was how they both finished, first him as she kept moving on what was still inside her, looking into his eyes, which got a primal response for him to increase her pleasure, to want to hold her, to think and feel _that she was everything and she was his. And that she wanted him too, needed him, _thoughts that pushed him to make the movements of his thumb more intense.

While holding her, Podrick managed to arrange the blanket under them as best he could. Soon they were both lying on their sides again, and they stayed that way for quite a while.

Laying still after consummating the act had been an advice given to her by her maesters to help them conceive, and she did so, _although that had not worked before and she doubted it would do so now. _But being like this with Podrick, both tired and calm, caressing each other, were the most comfortable times of her day-to-day life, as if she didn't have any worries in her mind. _"...This isn't so bad…" Sansa _said. After waiting for an answer and receiving none, she looked at him and found him asleep. Snorting she kissed him on the shoulder.

Podrick woke up alone and promptly panicked half asleep as he was, he came out from under the blanket searching for her and found her in the hot spring, sitting near the shore, only her neck and head visible. He was by her side in seconds. "How long was I asleep?" he asked sitting behind her, and she leaned back, resting her back against his chest, he embraced her from the waist at once, his nose caressing her neck.

"Not long," she admitted.

And then silence, both lost in their placid thoughts listening to the birds singing, the movement of the water, the sounds of the forest. After several minutes she searched for his face but said nothing and Podrick simply smiled at her, "This wasn't so bad, was it?"

Sansa smiled back at him, his words an echo of hers when he was falling asleep, "No. It wasn't." she answered, leaving a peck on his lips and turning back to the hot springs.

Podrick closed his eyes as he rested his chin on her shoulder, "We should do this more often."

_"Yes." _She approved of that, "Maybe come better prepared."

Realistically, Podrick knew this was something that would not happen often, he kissed her shoulder, "I love you." Immediately he felt her tense in his arms and could not help but smile and hold her more firmly. _It wasn't the first time he revealed his feeling to her, _but she always reacted like that; like she needed preparation to hear the words. After a few seconds she moved away from him, swimming. Sansa already had admitted that she loved him too, but that she found difficult to listen and give those words back. _And of course, _he had waited to reveal his feelings until he was sure she reciprocated them.

After her momentum ended, he saw her turning in his direction, waiting for him, and he pushed himself towards her.

"I love you too." she whispered when he was just in front of her, stepping up a bit and leaving a short kiss on his lips before hugging him, placing her head against his shoulder and staying like that for a long time, just holding each other.

When she pulled away to look in his eyes, he studied her curiously.

"Don't fall asleep." She warned, swinging her arm to splash water directly on his face.

Podrick immediately splashed back, playing along for a few moments. She was covering her head to try not to get her hair too wet and shouting at him to stop. _"You started it!" _Doing his best to contain a wicked smile, he approached her again, she thought he was going to kiss her and she closed her eyes. Podrick took her by the waist firmly, "Do you know what I want to do now?" he asked with his best seductive tone and she stared at him with curiosity, shaking her head. He couldn't contain it anymore and he saw her eyes widening when his smirk gave him away.

She grabbed his shoulders tightly, "_No, Podrick!" _she hurriedly said, and, when he seemingly reconsidered she added, "That's an order."

Her words made him stop immediately, so used to receive orders, and he immediately noticed that _she knew_ she had the winning hand at that moment, he let her go just a little bit which gave her some security, "When it is an order you call me _Ser._" He simply said and she went to discuss it but he interrupted her, "Right now I'm not your Guard or you Knight, I'm your husband." He continued and made his moves, she didn't even manage to shout a _'NOOOO' _by the time she was underwater, and even before she was totally submerged Podrick realized he made a mistake.

He released her immediately and she came back to the surface coughing and spitting water. A part of him expected her cold and distant visage directed at him, the other part considered how long she would be angry for, and how he would have to make amends. _He was an idiot for ruining the day they were having. _He thought all that and even more while waiting for her reaction as she kept coughing, him patting her softly on her back to help her.

But soon he realized that she was not only coughing, but also laughing, "I'll make a fire for when you get out."

When Sansa broke away from him he let her put her weight on his shoulders, allowing her to push him down instead.

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_"We really should repeat this outing," _Podrick told her after both of them got dressed, "best day of my life."

They had both enjoyed themselves like children, except for the very grown up things they had done, but she didn't believe his words entirely, "…I bet you've had better." she said on her horse as they left the forest.

Podrick frowned, "No, not really." He answered and saw her smiling after looking at him for a few moments, _studying him. _He licked his lips, "Do you know any hot springs that are inside a cave?"

She rolled her eyes, "We haven't even left this place and you are already thinking about the next time?" she asked gracefully, feigning being surprised.

He brought his horse up to hers, and smiled playfully, _"…I'm always thinking of the next time."_

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